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Cartoon - Nickelodeon - Spongebob Squarepants
This article is about the series. For the title character, see SpongeBob SquarePants (character). SpongeBob SquarePants The current "off-screen" logo, enacted in 2009. Genre Comedy Created by Stephen Hillenburg Developed by Derek Drymon Tim Hill Nick Jennings Creative director(s) Derek Drymon (Season 1-3) Vincent Waller (Season 4-present) Voices of Tom Kenny Bill Fagerbakke Rodger Bumpass Carolyn Lawrence Clancy Brown Mr. Lawrence Theme music composer Hank Smith Music Opening theme "SpongeBob SquarePants" performed by Pat Pinney Ending theme "Cierre Bob Esponja" Composer(s) Nicolas Carr Country of origin United States No. of seasons 8 No. of episodes 204 167 (aired) 320 (Segments) (List of episodes) Production Executive producer(s) Stephen Hillenburg Paul Tibbitt (Season 5-present) Running time 22–23 minutes Production company(s) United Plankton Pictures Nickelodeon Animation Studios Distributor MTV Networks International Broadcast Original channel Nickelodeon Picture format 480i: SDTV (1999–present) 1080i: HDTV (2009–present) Audio format Advantage Audio Services (1999–2009) (NTSC) Advantage Audio Services 8.0 (2009–present) Dolby Surround 5.1 (2009–present) (NTSC) Original run May 1, 1999 – present External links Website SpongeBob SquarePants (often referred to simply as SpongeBob) is an American animated television series, created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg. Much of the series centers on the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom. The series' popularity has prompted the release of a media franchise, contributing to its position as Nickelodeon's highest rated show, the most distributed property of MTV Networks, and among Nicktoons' most watched shows.1 As of 2011, SpongeBob SquarePants is the only Nicktoon from the 1990s that has not ended yet. The show is listed 15th in IGN's top 100 animated series list. It is also known for being one of Nickelodeon's longest running TV shows. Creator Stephen Hillenburg initially conceived SpongeBob SquarePants in 1984, while he was teaching and studying marine biology at what is now the Orange County Ocean Institute.2 During his period, Hillenburg became fascinated in animation, and wrote a comic book entitled The Intertidal Zone starring various Anthropomorphic forms of sea life, many of which would evolve into SpongBob SquarePants characters,3 including "Bob the Sponge", who was the co-host of the comic and resembled an actual sea sponge as opposed to SpongeBob.4 In 1987, Hillenburg left the institute to pursue his dream of becoming an animator.34 In 1992, Hillenburg began to attend the California Institute of the Arts to study animation, having been accepted into the institute by Jules Engel, who was impressed with Hillenburg's previous work.356 While attending animation school, Hillenburg received a job on the TV series Mother Goose and Grimm, and worked on the series from 1991 to 1993. When attending the California Institute of the Arts, he made his thesis film entitled Wormholes,4 which was funded by the Grace Foundation and was later displayed at various animation festivals.4 In 1993, Hillenburg graduated from the institute, earning a Master of Fine Arts in experimental animation.3 In 1995, Joe Murray, creator of Rocko's Modern Life, met Hillenburg at one of said animation festivals, and offered him a job as a director of the series.4789 Hillenburg then joined the Nickelodeon animated series as a writer, producer, and storyboard artist during the series' third season, continuing his position for much of the fourth season.4910 The third season episode "Fish-N-Chumps" (November 12, 1995) was directed by Hillenburg, and involved Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt going on a fishing trip, oblivious to the fact that a pair anthropomorphic fish are attempting to catch them from underwater.711 While working on Rocko's Modern Life, Hillenburg became friends with Tom Kenny, who was later approached by Hillenburg to become the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants,12 and future SpongeBob SquarePants collaborators Mr. Lawrence, Paul Tibbitt and others. Rocko's Modern Life ended in 1996.13 Shortly following this, Hillenburg began working on SpongeBob SquarePants.411 He teamed up with several Nickelodeon veterans and Rocko crew members, including creative director Derek Drymon (Action League Now!, Hey Arnold!, and Rocko's Modern Life) writers and directors Sherm Cohen, and Dan Povenmire14 (Rocko's Modern Life), writer Tim Hill (Rocko's Modern Life), actor and writer Martin Olson (Rocko's Modern Life), animation director Alan Smart (Rocko's Modern Life), and story editor Merriwether Williams (The Angry Beavers), who worked on the series for its first few seasons and switched to SpongeBob SquarePants in July 1999. To voice the character of SpongeBob, Hillenburg approached Tom Kenny, who had worked with him on Rocko's Modern Life.12 Originally, SpongeBob was to be named SpongeBoy, but this name was already in use.15 This was discovered after voice-acting for the original seven-minute pilot was recorded in 1997. The Nickelodeon legal department discovered that the name was already in use for a mop product.16 Upon finding this out, Hillenburg decided that the character's given name still had to contain "Sponge" so viewers would not mistake the character for a "Cheese Man". Hillenburg decided to use the name "SpongeBob". He chose "SquarePants" as a family name as it referred to the character's square shape and it had a "nice ring to it".17 While pitching the cartoon to Nickelodeon executives, Hillenburg donned a Hawaiian shirt, brought along an "underwater terrarium with models of the characters", and Hawaiian music to set the theme. The setup was described by Nick executive Eric Coleman as "pretty amazing".18 When given money and two weeks to write the pilot episode ("Help Wanted"),5 Derek Drymon, Stephen Hillenberg, and Nick Jennings returned with, described by Nickelodeon official Albie Hecht, "a performance (I) wish (I) had on tape".19 Although described as stressful by executive producer Derek Drymon,5 the pitch went "very well"; Kevin Kay and Hecht had to step outside because they were "exhausted from laughing", making the cartoonists worried.19 The pilot episode of SpongeBob SquarePants first aired episodes in the United States on Nickelodeon on May 1, 1999, following the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. The first episodes were called "Help Wanted", "Reef Blower", and "Tea at the Treedome". The "official" series premiere followed on July 17, 1999, with the second episode, "Bubblestand/Ripped Pants." The show reached enormous popularity by 2000 during the second season, and has remained popular since. A feature film of the series was released in theaters on November 19, 2004. The series celebrated its tenth anniversary on July 17, 2009. SpongeBob was renewed for a ninth season on January 3, 2011.20 So far the series has aired 320 individual episodes.